Scientists who encoded the book said it could be soon cheaper to store information in DNA than in conventional digital devices.

Scientists have for the first time used DNA to encode the contents of a book. At 53,000 words, and including 11 images and a computer program, it is the largest amount of data yet fully stored artificially using the genetic material.

The researchers claim that the cost of DNA coding is dropping so quickly that within five to 10 years it could be cheaper to store information using this method than in conventional digital devices.

Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA - the chemical that stores genetic instructions in almost all known organisms - has an impressive data capacity. One gram can store up to 455bn gigabytes : the contents of more than 100bn DVDs, making it the ultimate in compact storage media.